Time is money — workXid aims to save companies both

A new identification card that carries a worker’s information and credentials aims to reduce lost time and save millions of dollars for construction employers.

The portable credentialing system by workXid includes a one-stop card that a worker shows to an employer before entering a worksite. The card gets scanned by a device equipped with WiFi and the individual is redirected to a cloud-based website where all the worker’s credentials are displayed.

By reducing the time spent during the TAG-in process, employers save both money and time, according to workXid industry consultant Jim Steketee. He says the system will reduce the process by at least an hour.

"Let’s say a guy is making 30 to 40 bucks an hour…60 bucks if you include benefits and pension…with every person that you’re processing in, you’re paying 120 bucks just to process that worker and you’re not getting very little production and the employer eats all of that time," he says.

The system puts all of a worker’s credential documents, which would most likely be in a paper card format, onto one ID card that leads to the cloud database.

He says general contractor PCL processes up to 100,000 workers every year, with each person taking up to two to three hours of work time, indicated past market research.

"Not only is that employer going to save 60 bucks, but they’re going to get that person on the jobsite an hour faster, so that means he’s picking up production," Steketee says.

The concept is nothing new. In the late 90s, the construction industry was looking for a solution to address the log jam produced from processing workers.

At the time, a provincial labour management committee, conducted a feasibility study on the available technology and found it was too expensive to implement.

"Since I come from the industry, since we’ve been through all of this with the feasibility study, I was very involved and I knew what the industry was looking for," he says. "The difficulty was the technology and price point just didn’t meet the industry’s needs."

Steketee adds, that the industry ended up waiting to see how technology would evolve and for the price to dip.

Currently, workXid charges an individual worker $40 per year for the service. Companies are also able to purchase in bulk where the price is reduced by half per person.

"The technology has now reduced that price point to where it is more than affordable," he says.

Though there are similar products set to hit the market, Steketee emphasizes that workXid is unique because it does not keep or own all the personal information and credential documents.

"We make it very clear — we don’t own the data, it belongs to the individual," he says. "If somebody else is going to come out with another system, it’s going to come down to who owns the data. We don’t own it, we’re strictly the custodians, you pay us a fee and you put all of the information up on the system and it all belongs to you."

The construction industry in the United Kingdom uses a similar system called CSCS where all the info is stored on a chip card rather than the cloud. Steketee points out the CSCS cards require updates which can cost £60 for a replacement card.

The workXid system hit the market this past February and has garnered some positive feedback in parts of Ontario, he says.

The company has plans to expand beyond the construction industry to any sector where credentialing is required. They’re currently in talks with the mining sector, who have shown interest.